The Dukes of Hazzard: Return of the General Lee - PS2 - Review

Admittedly, I had never
seen or known anyone who has seen an episode of The Dukes of Hazzard--a show
that debuted in the early 80s. My only knowledge of the show is the mention of
Daisy Dukes, which are really tight blue jeans that are cut into really skimpy
shorts, in a talk show but never knew exactly who Daisy Duke was. So before I
took to writing a review of The Dukes of Hazzard: Return of the General Lee,
I rented the complete first season of The Dukes of Hazzard on DVD and suddenly
found myself completely enthralled by the two cousins that defied the law in
every episode. I also found a new love . . . a revved-up Dodge Charger called
the General Lee. So how true to the show is The Dukes of Hazzard? Sit
down a spell, cousin, and let’s talk about a game that could have been a
knee-slapping good time.

The Dukes of Hazzard
has you playing as Bo and Luke Duke,
two cousins living in Hazzard County along with their grizzled Uncle Jesse and
sassy cousin Daisy. Of course, the little sleepy county has its share of
troublemakers and the biggest of them all happens to be the very corrupt Boss
Hogg and his dastardly (yet bumbling) cohort Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane. It
seems that the local orphanage run by Sally Jo is in danger of being closed down
due to a lack of funds so it’s up to the entire Duke clan as well as mechanic
buddy Cooter to help raise money by taking on other racers in the Hazzard County
Derby. Of course, it isn’t going to be easy winning the prize money with Boss
Hogg and Sheriff Rosco scheming to win the Derby money themselves. Yep, it’s
another normal day in Hazzard Country.

The first level puts you
behind the wheel of a black Dodge Charger that is in dire need of several parts
to make it a vehicle fit for the Duke boys to drive around. It eventually
becomes the General Lee although you really won’t feel the difference at all . .
. but more on that later. As the game unfolds, the boys race across a big chunk
of Hazzard County and you can explore it to your heart’s content (although
there’s nothing much to see here). You’ll race against the clock in various
levels or attempting to beat the locals out there. In one of the early levels,
you’ll even have to race mechanic friend Cooter (who drives a battered tow
truck). You’ll even run errands for Boss Hogg and run from Sheriff Rosco and
his more friendlily Deputy, Enos Strate.

While the majority of the
levels feel basically the same, Return of the General Lee tosses in other
playable characters that drive their own vehicles. You’ll be playing as Uncle
Jesse who is might fond of his tough pick-up truck and even Daisy Duke who’s the
proud owner of the Roadrunner. You’ll even play as Cooter, but of the bunch the
Uncle Jesse’s transport mission is the most fun . . . and hilarious. And
speaking of hilarious, foiling Sheriff Rosco in his squad car and Boss Hogg in
his extravagant white limo is one of the game’s biggest highlights. Both happen
to be the most likeable bad guys around.

Sadly, likeable bad guys
and playing as other characters takes a back seat to the terrible controls that
makes driving each vehicle seem like driving some kind of clunky box. Much like
the driving levels in Mafia, the cars handle stiffly and are horrible
when it comes to making sharp turns. The General Lee is often pushing the speed
limit in order to make some cool jumps but when it comes to landing you’ll often
find yourself wedged between a picket fence or some other environmental
obstacle. And if you so happen to flip over (and it happens a lot), you’ll have
to wait a few seconds before The General Lee twitches and flips back on its
wheels. Even with its basic control scheme, the clumsy vehicles make the
majority of the levels (as well as the two-player multiplayer mode) a pretty
infuriating mess.

Unfortunately, The
Dukes of Hazzard isn’t even a good-looking game. Hazzard County looks
exactly like it does in the show but thanks to its flat textures and lack of
detail, the place looks dull. Even its dusty roads and backwoods just seem
boring. Still one thing the games does get right is the character’s
appearances--every character resembles each of the actors. Still, the vehicles,
especially the General Lee, don’t look half as cool in this game.

What does work, though, is
the game’s sound. The soundtrack is pure Dukes Southern country instrumentals
(e.g. lots of banjo and harmonica riffs)and it’s actually pretty cool
even for those who aren’t even into country tunes. The show’s opening theme
song even plays during the menu selection screen--it’s enough to put a smile on
a fan’s face. Still, what makes the sound a treat to hear is the voice acting,
which is performed by many of the actors from the show like Tom Wopat, John
Schneider (who is known now as Clark Kent’s dad on the television show
Smallville) and even Catherine Bach reprising her role as Daisy Duke.
You’ll even find the show’s narrator who chimes in every now and then just like
the show. Overall it’s great stuff, only I wish the soundtrack had a broader
variety of tunes.

The Dukes of Hazzard
could have been an instant classic
and why wouldn’t it be? It has great characters, cool cars and plenty of
chases, races and destructive demolition derbies. It’s also true to the show,
but it failed in the most important aspect of all--gameplay. The Return of
the General Lee misses the mark completely so skip this one if you’re a fan
or have a fondness for driving games with a country twist.

#Review
Scoring Details for
The Dukes of Hazzard: TheReturn of the General Lee

Gameplay: 4.5Many of the levels are actually fun
and it’s cool to be racing as Daisy Duke but all of this doesn’t matter because
the vehicles handle more like boats than muscle cars. The controls get in the
way during races and also keep you from making those famous Duke stunts like
jumping off ramps.

Graphics: 5.8Hazzard County never looked so . . .
lifeless. While there’s a lot to see as far as environments are concerned,
backgrounds could have used more detail. The characters, on the other hand,
look just like the actors during the cut scenes.

Sound: 7.0You can’t beat the Southern
country-fried down-home music that plays throughout the game, even though the
soundtrack is limited to just a few tunes. Even the General Lee’s cool Dixie
horn and Bo Duke’s trademark “Yee haw!” can be heard with the press of a button.

Difficulty: MediumThe timed levels will have you
really pushing the General Lee to its top speeds and there will be times when
you’ll have to replay the level all over again because of mistakes and
accidents. Believe me when I say that the biggest challenge comes from
struggling with the game’s controls.

Concept: 5.5The great playable characters and
the super sweet ride that is the General Lee isn’t able to save the game, but
its very true-to-the-show presentation is great to see in a game (it certainly
beats Starsky & Hutch). The levels, though, are uninspiring until you
get to the later ones.

Multiplayer: 5.5I wish I could say that the
multiplayer mode is a lot better than the single player mode but it’s not. It
is a welcome addition since there are three different multiplayer modes, but now
you and a friend have to deal with the awful controls. You and a friend
can take each another on in a race and even a chase your friend as the local
law. There’s even a demolition derby!

Overall: 5.0It’s true to the show that inspired
it in almost every possible way but Return of the General Lee just falls
flat thanks to awful controls and several glaring glitches scattered
throughout. This is highly unfortunate really since the characters are likeable
and there are a few fun levels later in the game, but with controls like this
you’ll feel more frustrated than entertained.